The Big Seven Linux Distributions

A brief discussion about the main Linux distributions that almost all other distros are based upon. I call these seven distros "the big seven." I also talk about the intended audience of these distros. In particular, I talk about the ones that are most appropriate for the new Linux user.

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[Luftbubblan]

Debian and Arch is my most used distros. Love both for what they are :D

[PizzaLovingNerd]

Here's the list (For people who don't want to watch the whole vid):


Spoiler

Ubuntu
OpenSUSE
Debian
Fedora
Arch
Gentoo
Slackware

[TheCrewLT]

Nice to see u including Slackware. I started on slack as a newb, and i'm still using it, 12 years on. And i'm sticking with it.

[rmcellig]

Nice video!! I use Debian LXDE and Linux Mint on my main computer. Right now I am using the excellent archmerge distro on an external drive and of course the totally independent distro xenialpup from my flash drive 😀.

[tobykelly]

I love Manjaro! I'm using my second laptop to learn Arch.

[jpberes]

your definition of the big 7 is completely correct, especially when you mentioned that indeed Ubuntu, as being a very popular distro, is based upon Debian. However, a little remark Slackware is only 2 months (even nearly 2 months) older than Debian ... So Slackware can be called the Grandfather and Debian the Grandmother of (mostly) all Distro, not having taken into account de independent developed distros.

[TJWolf]

Awesome video DistroTube. Is that shirt in the works i will buy one! Thanks for video again.

[algis-kun]

I love Fedora specially since they added their upgrade tool (2 year support for each version, meaning that i can go with every other version) also they're pretty light on the downstream, which i've been able to apply stuff from the arch wiki without trouble.

[markvjh]

Siduction, Antergos and Tumbleweed my fav and most used rolling distros.

[BartekJuszczak]

Manjaro + Timeshift + Grub Btrfs and you've got yourself unbreakable linux with rollbacks to a previous version if you break something in 20-90s depending on your computer startup speed and a package manager that will auto update and have basically everything you may need. Systemd Manager to manage your startup services with a GUI. If something doesn't start or start on boot after you install check Systemd Manager and enable or enable on startup.

[stroggwars]

thnx for the vid i'm playing around these days with linux on a VM i'm a windows user, i will start a big learning curve project for linux maybe i will switch later after finishing my learning curve project for linux, and i downloaded the big ones starting with mint xfce desktop, so thnx for mentioning the big 7 they almost match what i got with 99% hit from u

[Falcrist]

Fedora is based on Red Hat, though.

The main parts of the Linux family tree seems to be:

Debian -> Ubuntu -> Mint

Slackware -> SUSE -> OpenSUSE

RedHat -> Fedora
| - - - - - - -> CentOS

Gentoo -> ChromeOS

Arch -> Manjaro

And of course Android.

All of the parent distros are still active, but they tend to be for more advanced use.

I feel like it should be:
New users: Ubuntu, Mint, Manjaro
Professionals: RedHat, CentOS, OpenSUSE
Enthusiasts: Fedora, Gentoo
Server hosts: Debian, Ubuntu Server, Fedora Server, OpenSUSE

[jacobnathanielzpayag]

My first linux distro is Arch. Until today, arch is my first choice distro because of its simplicity. The base and base-devel group will have everything you need and you can build your preferred system from there

[MrNeilypops]

Concise presentation. well done.
Over the last 20 years I always had a big fail with Fedora...different machines ...different levels of experience...Cheers and Peace to you.

[uthus]

Jumped into Linux in '96 with Slackware. It came with a server book. Man what a learning curve! Had to tweak X by hand; SCSI drives were not natively recognized; had to write your own dial-up scripts, had to compile your own kernel or modules because hardware was flaky...


Looking back on it, there's a lot that I've forgotten because I don't have to do those things anymore.

[geezergeek]

Good overview!
Thanks for the vids. Enjoying them.
.
I jumped in with building a quad boot ... Not a typical noob! :)
Manjaro, openSUSE (Tumbleweed lol) and Ubuntu were the primaries.
(I forget now what the fourth was. But no complaints with any of them.)
And/but, I agree; Ubuntu is a bit friendlier.
One thing I like about Manjaro (Arch based) is the ability to change kernels easily.
Again... not the target for your video.
The newcomer to Linux is unlikely to want that option.
I did because of some interesting hardware,
and wanting to change kernels because of it.
Oh... and doing a multiboot? Some interesting challenges,
sometimes losing my initial installation when I added a later one.
Multiboot is not, I would suggest, for someone looking to get their feet wet.
I'd recommend swapping out your boot drive and doing a clean install.
That way you can always go back to your original drive
with your Partitions, OS, and programs unmodified/undamaged.

[whichisuprise]

Started with Debian/Ubuntu/Mint variants and finally starting to play around with RHEL/Fedora/CentOS

[krzysztof-wsog]

Was waiting for LFS :(
Btw I use mainstream arch :)

[jimbo]

I gotta say, I'm using fedora right now to watch this video, and my god is it smooth, stable and usable. Even games seem to run better on this distro (Almost out of the box after installing your video drivers).

[jodiethemathgenius]

I would totally recommend arch for beginners, it just works and it's simple to use, pacman and the aur make installing anything a breeze